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Lawmaker: Why NJ should crack down on high-capacity magazines (Opinion)

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Assemblyman Lou Greenwald wants to limit magazines to 10 rounds, from 15, in New Jersey. The Camden County Democrat says lower-capacity magazines give victims time to flee a mass shooting because shooters must stop to reload more often.
(Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger)

Requiring shooters to reload more often provides more time for innocent people to escape or disarm the shooter.

By Louis Greenwald

It’s a moment you don’t forget. Each of us remembers hearing the news: a gunman had stormed a Connecticut elementary school, killing 20 6- and 7-year-olds and six courageous adults who tried to protect them. As a nation, the tragedy of Newtown broke our hearts. But it should also strengthen our resolve to protect our communities from senseless gun violence.

Several times, I have met with parents whose children were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary. These visits are among the most profoundly moving experiences in my 18 years of public service.

These families told me how they used to see stories about shootings on the evening news. They told me their hearts would go out to the families of the victims. They told me they would say prayers, then return to the normal business of their lives. But in the blink of an eye, their families were ripped apart.

This story could happen to any of us. Any of our families could so easily be devastated the way the victims of gun violence are devastated every day.

Recent tragedies show that a 10-round limit can save lives. In Newtown, the shooter used 30-round magazines to commit heinous murders. As he reloaded in one classroom, 11 children escaped. With a 10-round limit requiring more frequent reloading, more lives might have been saved.

In Tucson, a shooter used a 33-round magazine to kill six people and wound others, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. He was tackled as he tried to reload. Yet bullet No. 13 killed a 9-year-old girl. With a 10-round limit, she might be alive today.

According to James Johnson, Baltimore police chief and chair of the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence, magazine capacity matters. Johnson explains that while expert shooters, like law enforcement officers, can quickly reload, shooters who are nervous, scared or adrenaline-ridden take longer. Requiring shooters to reload more often provides more time for innocent people to escape or disarm the shooter.

In addition, data from President Clinton’s 1994 assault weapons ban suggest a 10-round limit worked. Crime data from Virginia show that high-capacity magazines recovered by police declined to a low of 9 percent of all weapons recovered during the law’s existence. Once the law expired, this number spiked to 22 percent. These data suggest that, over time, the ten-round limit reduced criminals’ use of high-capacity magazines.

Furthermore, limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds respects the Second Amendment. No constitutional freedom is unlimited. For example, the First Amendment does not protect citizens who falsely shout, “Fire!” in a crowded theater.

My bill strikes that reasonable balance. By reducing the number of high-capacity magazines in criminal hands and limiting the damage violent individuals can inflict, we will save lives and reduce gun violence. Meanwhile, hunters and sportsmen will not be impacted; competitive shooters will still be able to compete; citizens will still be able to effectively defend themselves, their homes and families.

Standing idle cannot be an option when a sensible bill like this one can promote public safety. The Assembly approved it last session, but it failed to advance further. Now, we all know we must do the right thing, and we are headed in the right direction — toward a safer New Jersey.

Too many families have been ripped apart by gun violence. Nothing we do can fill the empty chairs at dinner tables in Newtown or New Jersey. But what we can do is apply the lessons of past tragedies to prevent future gun violence.